Jaguar Land Rover to axe 4500 jobs globally, 2018 sales down 4.6%

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), the UK subsidiary of Tata Motors, plans to axe 4,500 jobs globally in response to slowing sales in its home market. The latter trend is a sequel to the turmoil caused by the British decision to leave the European Union (‘Brexit’), falling sales of diesel vehicles and a downturn in China, Tata Motors said in a BSE filing on Thursday.

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JLR employed around 43,000 people at the end of 2018. The estimate of layoffs is in addition to the 1,500 people the company let go in 2018.

Thursday’s move is part of a £2.5 billion ($3.2 billion) plan announced last year to trim cost and boost cash flow through 2020. JLR sales for the year that ended in December dropped 4.6 per cent to 592,708 units from a year before, the company said in a separate filing.

Sales in China plunged 21 per cent, in Britain by 1.5 per cent and in the rest of Europe by 7.8 per cent. “We are taking decisive action to help deliver long-term growth, in the face of multiple geopolitical and regulatory disruptions, as well as technology challenges facing the automotive industry," JLR chief executive officer Ralf Speth stated. The measures were aimed at “safeguarding our future and ensuring we maximise the opportunities created by growing demand for autonomous, connected, electric and shared technologies", he added.

So far, their ‘Charge and Accelerate’ programme has identified over £1 billion of improvements. Of this, it says, more than £500 million was realised in 2018. The savings and improvements achieved will enable JLR to fund vital investments into technology to safeguard its future, the company said.

In June, the company said it would move production of the Discovery sport utility vehicle to Slovakia, from Birmingham, England, to make room for future electric cars. The company has said that move will cost 1,200 jobs. The firm also froze production at an engine factory in the English Midlands, affecting 500 workers, for two weeks in December, citing slower demand. UK new-car sales tumbled at their steepest annual rate since a financial crisis last year.

Jaguar sales increased by

4.2 per cent in 2018, while Land Rover registrations dropped 5.7 per cent, according to the Society for Motor Manufacturers and Traders industry group.